Reading Requirements - Prenatal Testing

The Tentative Pregnancy: How Amniocentesis Changes the Experience of Motherhood

Author: Barbara Katz Rothman

CBI Review: This is a fascinating read. There is a focus on ultrasound being used as a tool to determine the well being of the baby and Barbara raises many questions about the emotional and physical impact on the mother and baby. Using case studies to explain the choices parents have been faced, this book raises provocative questions on the ethics of routine prenatal screening and diagnostic tests.

CBI Ratings:
Supportive of choice:
Easy to read:
Evidence based:

Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: The Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America (The Anthropology of Everyday Life)

Author: Rayna Rapp

Amazon Description: Rapp examines the social impact and cultural meaning of the prenatal tests currently available, having interviewed women waiting for test results, deciding whether to continue a pregnancy, or who refused to be tested.

Expecting Trouble: The Myth of Prenatal Care in America

Author: Thomas H. Strong Jr.

Amazon Description: Drawing from the literature of medical and epidemiological research, Strong- "a second-generation obstetrician"- presents compelling evidence that prenatal care in the United States does little to improve birth outcomes. The current trend toward universal prenatal care is fueled not by evidence that it is effective, he argues, but by unexamined assumptions as well as political expediency and economic greed. While stressing that access to prenatal care should not be impeded, Strong recommends that the technology and costs for uncomplicated pregnancies be scaled down, noting that prenatal care for these pregnancies could be shifted from obstetricians to midwives whose care is as effective but less costly. Obstetricians, in turn, could then focus on what they do well - "assisting pregnancies with medical complications that respond to treatment" - and the routine use of costly, high-tech procedures that do not improve outcome could be halted. In support of his vision, Strong explores a range of medical and public-policy issues currently under debate. Provocative and stimulating, this book performs a valuable service by bringing evidence on this vital issue out of the research literature and into public discourse and providing the tools for a long-needed paradigm shift.